Do Tornadoes happen outside of the USA?

Question

You always here about the central US and the amount of Tornadoes they get a year. But why do you never hear anything about tornadoes anywhere else in the world. Do they just not happen or isn't it that big of a deal. I was just curious and hoping someone could give me a good answer.

Answer 1

Tornadoes do happen in other countries, particularly places like Austraila, Canada, China, and parts of Europe (even Great Britain on rare occasion). However, the US has the most tornadoes out of any country in the world. This is due to the fact that the central portions of the US are flat areas that allow warm moist air from the tropics to collide directly with cooler, polar air.

Answer 2

Tornadoes can happen pretty much anywhere on the planet as shown on this map http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Globdisttornado.jpg and strange as it may seem the United Kingdom has more tornados per square mile than anywhere else although they rarely cause any damage and when they do it's very limited, nothing at all like the big tornados that hit the southern and eastern states of the US.

The tornados in the US are the ones that make the news because these are the big ones. Outside the US it tends to be cyclones that are the most damaging, especially in Asia.

Answer 3

Yes tornados hapen all over the world except antartica

The reson that the U.S. gets all the publicity is they occure more frequently in the U.S.

See this link.
even more links to tornados around the world
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2004-05-19-global-tornadoes_x.htm

Q: Do tornados occur on all continents or just in North America? I never hear about tornados outside the U.S.

Tornadoes, like this one that hit Cordell, Okla., in 1981, occur elsewhere in the world.
AP file

A: Tornadoes have been reported on every continent except Antarctica, which does not have the needed contrast between warm and cold air and also the humid air needed for thunderstorms to form.

One good source of information about tornadoes in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, is the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORO). An article in the U.S. Military's Stars and Strips newspaper on European tornadoes is a good overview, which also mentions twisters in other parts of the world.

The Australian Severe Weather Web site has a page on tornadoes, including information on storm chasing in Australia. The Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology (Australia's national weather service) has a page on tornadoes in the state of New South Wales and another page with history of some tornadoes in Australia.

Someone who is serious about learning more about tornadoes in other parts of the world should check a paper by Harold Brooks and Charles A. Doswell III of the National Severe Storms Lab on Some aspects of the international climatology of tornadoes by damage classification. The paper's notes and list of data sources would be extremely helpful. (Related:Text of the paper)

On of the best resources for all kinds of information about tornadoes is the Tornado Project. It has the most complete list of U.S. tornadoes that you'll find and is beginning to list tornadoes in other parts of the world. The Asia listing has a clickable map that will take you to information about tornadoes in China, India, and Bangladesh. At the time I did this, the listings for other Asian nations had not been published.

The Tornado Project has also started a listing of South American tornadoes. A listing for Argentina was published when I checked.

Answer 4

Bangladesh and surrounding areas of eastern India suffer from tornadoes of equal severity to those in the US with more regularity than any other region in the world, however these tend to be under-reported due to the scarcity of media coverage in third-world countries. The annual human death toll is about 179 deaths per year from tornadoes in Bangladesh, which is much greater than in the US. This is likely due to the density of population, poor quality of construction, lack of tornado safety knowledge, and other factors. Other areas of the world that have more frequent tornadoes include South Africa, parts of Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, as well as portions of Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and far eastern Asia.

Answer 5

Of course tornadoes happen in other places. Other places that are similar to the central US. We just don't hear about it because our media focuses on us and any place that might involve us. Tornadoes outside the US don't make for big news. I am sure it one happened in Iraq we'd hear about though.

Answer 6

We had a tornado last year in the UK. It was a great shock. We sometimes get tornadoes, but the don't often hit the ground. It was very rare and startled us.
No, we don't suffer the same devastation as in the USA.

Answer 7

No tornados only like Americans

Answer 8

I live in Canada and there have been some serious ones here. Most are in the U.S. though